Today was amazing. Four of us huddled up in the groomer barn and came up with a plan and agreed to modify as needed depending on the defense. Four bearcats took off and we attacked the skate lanes: stadium 9 passes, it was packed hard and soft footprints needed erasing; river trail 6 passes, all white; Popple flats 7 passes, dodging the dirt; memory lane 4 passes, also dodging dirt but flatter than Popple flats. Back on river trail to the hill bypass, also dodging dirt patches but groomable and skiable. We returned on blueberry bluffs and meadow ridge, not bad but very very skiable. Groomers then attacked cherry and deer trail but did not groom the end of deer trail since it was thin, this could be a good down and back... it's flat. To finish we did a new unnamed connector to blueberry and cold feet shortcut. Skiers were happy with the groomed trails, many thankful that we stayed open and worked on the thin snow we had. Grooming plans: Tomorrow we have the same 4 person crew coming in to groom 6-10 am.

(Eric anderosn)

Ultra thin, icy corn snow but super fast and fun considering all the rain and warm temps. Downhills were manageable and safe. Looks like ABR base has survived at least on the main trails. Only saw a few guys trying classic but tracks were frozen solid and need new snow. Thanks to Eric and crew for making lemonade today. Lots of smiling faces today in the sunshine.

(Mike Ivey)

We groomed up about 15 k of combination trails. We left the classic tracks alone, they are glazed, shallow and icy. The ground up surface in the skate lanes is transformed, snow cone like texture about one inch deep; it does have a few chocolate chips mixed in where we groomed over debris. The surface is harder and faster than some skiers like, there is a higher risk of falling and the landing surface is harder than normal. However we are open for skiing and snowshoeing and the groomers invested 15 hours into doing the best with what we have.

Photos:

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

We started out with a groom crew here at 6 AM. We collaborated and delayed grooming for a bit since it was raining. I checked all my grooming hand books and Snowcross searched you tube... there were no instructions. Bull Dog told us to dress properly, put on "your Big Boy Pants" and get out there! Crasher was reluctant so he devised an umbrella windshield wiper system. We groomed old ABR (previously reported) this morning, found dirt spots, slush spots, icy spots and good stretches of snow. We had a busy day with satisfied skiers. Conditions were as advertised and skiable. Grooming plans: We have 4 groomers coming in to groom at 6 am. We will groom old ABR skate lanes. Classic tracks will be left as is until we get more snow. Expect tracks will be glazed/icy on the single tracks, this is fun for the flats but can be difficult for beginners on trails with hills so we are suggesting deer trail and jacks flats and cherry dairy for classic without hills. Intermediate skiers may enjoy the combi trails more going down River, Popple Flats, with hill bypass at pit point, memory, river and coming back on blueberry and meadow ridge. The dog trails are holding up well since they don't get much use.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

We are just coming in grooming in the rain. The conditions have deteriorated from yesterday. There are many thin areas, wet areas and bare areas. We groomed the wide trails of old ABR and the dog trails, it is skiable and we are open.

Photos:

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

All of the classic only trails were set in the morning. However the warm temperatures caused them to deteriorate by the afternoon. The skate deck looked really good. All in all it was a good day of sking in-spite of the warm temperatures.

(Eric Koch)

We had a full crew out today grooming early this morning. The skate lanes groomed up pretty well but the groomers are bringing up some debris... not rocks but organic matter, dirt on the high spots and leaves and nuts when we groom over where the squirrels are digging holes in the trails looking for their nuts. There are about 6 bedrock exposures on the 43.8 km we groomed today Classic tracks on the main trails are worn, glazed but skiing pretty decent. We reset classic tracks on Hemlock (the beginning is rough after the slight downhill but the rest was pretty good) jack and white pine, tamarack 2 track and sunset groomed up well. Wolf tracks is still pretty hit and miss. I am going to close puumala tomorrow and ridge runner because of some thin snow conditions on the downhills. Grooming plans: We have a full groomer crew in the early morning, based on the forecast we should be able to make lemonade in the morning.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

We groomed about 45 k of combination trails and set 37 k of new track on classic only trails, some thin areas from snowplowing and grooming but very skiable. Picture of jack pine.

Photos:

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Another very good afternoon of skiing. Really, no deterioration of the trails since I was last here on Monday despite no new snow. I arrived at 2:00 pm and it was 34F and same when I left two hours later. Just a few more areas where the trail is brown, but still very comfortable skating: consistent deck, no icy spots.

(Charlie Dee)

45 km of combination (skate and classic) trails were groomed up this morning by three of us. The trails turned out very good. Classic only trails are skiable but the classic tracks on the combi trails are much better. Hemlock downhill to River and Wolf Tracks are open but not as snow covered as others. Grooming plans: Five groomers scheduled for the early morning. We plan to regroom the main trails including the Highlands and dog trails across the road tomorrow but we do not plan on regrooming classic tracks until it cools and we get another inch or two.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)